Hello Out There

Just a quick post to dust off the old keyboard.

Things are moving quite quickly around here. Kids are growing up fast. Graduated one from high school already. Another is a senior.

The homestead is still a blank canvas for the most part. We moved here to southern Idaho and engaged in a 3 year 3 month lease to make sure we liked what we picked. So far, this has been the best location for raising our family. So I haven't modified the property much until we determine if we are staying long term.

We've raised chickens and pigs, as you can see from previous posts. We've talked about goats, sheep and cattle. No garden yet to speak of but have planted six fruit trees.

I still haven't replaced my Orange Jeep which is where I got my moniker. A mixture of finances and busy life has side railed that endeavor. I have an alert on my smart phone via a CraigsList app that keeps me informed every time one if offered for sale. I have seen a few but none like the one I planned on keeping.

I have lots going on, some of which I'd like to post about, but haven't quite found the time to sit down and write. I'm considering a post for the monthly SurvivalBlog entry about moving to the American Redoubt and getting settled in. Some of things I've done to acclimate include:

• settling in with the local church. I'm LDS and have become the President of my Elder's Quorum. This has proven to be a tough calling but lends me the opportunity to meet and get to know scores of families in my community. We have monthly activities including yesterday's fun Date Night Shooting activity which involved running an obstacle course of pistol and long gun targets with our spouses. Last month was BOBCON 2016 (Bug Out Bag Conference) where we had a supply swap, How To session on packing a bag and taste testing about eight different MREs, freeze dried foods from Mountain House, and a 2400 calorie food "bar."
• joined the local Freemason lodge. I'm an Entered Apprentice at this point so a few more levels to go before I am a Master Mason. If you've been reading my blog, you know my daughters have been in Job's Daughters for several years. That is a group within the Freemason family. I liked the local lodge enough to join now. This has led me to grow my circle of friends throughout the southern Idaho region.
• join the state society for my craft of Radiology. This has allowed me to again extend my network of friends and associates statewide. I was nominated for President of this organization but was not ultimately selected. It was still an honor to be considered worthy for the title.
• participating in several of the local "fun runs" for both adults and kids. We participated in a Super Hero race yesterday and Monster won a brand new bicycle. She's thrilled! Macky dressed up like Spiderman and took pictures with the kids.
• service projects are everywhere and we've done as much as possible: fairgrounds cleanup, helping serve and clean up at the Senior Citizens Center breakfast fundraiser, numerous helping neighbors projects including painting a house for a senior, and lots more.
• hosting dinner with other families at our home monthly. One weekend we had three sets of people over and it was great. Hosting dinners is a great way to get to know your neighbors.
• joined as a reserve police office for the local PD. As a level three volunteer, I simply ride along with a patrol one or two nights a month and help by being an extra set of eyes. 

The list of acclimating goes on and on. I'm a firm believer in giving back to the community where you reside. If everyone followed this one rule, our country would be in much better shape.

So that's my update in a nutshell. There are many projects I still would like to attempt but many are waiting to see if we take ownership of the property:

• geothermal greenhouse like LDSPrepper has on YouTube
• improve my chicken coop to make it more human friendly (easier access, more automated)
• add more animal pens
• add a perimeter fence to the whole property
• build a workshop into the garage and get out of the 8x10 trailer
• landscape front and back yard
• toy with an idea on podcasting that I've been thinking about
• solar panels to power our home
• rain barrel water collection system
• building some cob houses on the property for crafting, music studio, man cave

If you read this, thanks for stopping by. I welcome your comments below. Let's keep in touch.

OJD